Wednesday, November 5, 2014

A Letter To My White Progressive Friends The Day After The 2014 Midterm Elections

Dear Progressive White Allies,

Your family and friends let America down once more. It
wasn't low turnout by black and brown voters in urban communities. It wasn't
bad messaging. It wasn't gerrymandered districts. It wasn't the hundreds of
millions in dark money spent. It wasn't the manipulation of voting rules and
procedures. It wasn't the negative ads turning off voters. It was the voting
behavior of your friends and relatives. You know these people. You talk to them
daily. You spend holidays with them. You work alongside them. You are next door
neighbors to them. You work out at the gym with them. You cringe but mostly look the other way after one of their racist, sexist, and homophobic comments. It's time you talk
seriously to them about the future of our country.

I remember after the 2000 presidential election being a part
of a conversation with mostly white activists and organizers from around the
region in January 2001. Leading the discussion was a respected black labor
leader, George Springer, from the American Federation of Teachers. George sat
patiently as progressive people from around the northeast complained about the
outcome of the election. They could not believe that so many people could vote
for George W. Bush. They could not believe that the Supreme Court got it so
wrong. They could not believe that more people didn't turn out for the
election. They were mad at Ralph Nader and blamed him for losing Florida.
George raised his hand, and said "black people got it right" - the overwhelming majority of black people voted for Al Gore. The room went silent because
no one was sure how to respond to that basic truth.

I don't know many poor and working-class blacks who vote
against their basic economic interest the way many poor and working-class white people do.
I don't know many middle-class black people who complain about big government,
want tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, and cuts to the social safety
net, but want to benefit from any government handout that helps them like tax
breaks for middle-class homeowners the way many white people do. I don't know many black people who believe
that they have more in common with the super-rich than they do with working
class and poor people the way many white people do. I don't know many black
people who want to impose their conservative religious views and social values
on the rest of the country the way many evangelical and fundamentalist white
Christians do. I don’t know many black senior citizens who oppose spending on
education while demanding more money for Social Security and Medicare the way
many white senior citizens do.

I do not have to look to know that every exit poll from
every state that every candidate progressive's favored, whether they won or
lost - governor or Senator - an overwhelming majority of black people voted for
that candidate. I know my people.

Sincerely,

Bilal Dabir Sekou, Ph.D.

PS

And by the way my friend, I am pleading with you. No, I
am begging you to open a dialogue with your sons, your daughters, your brothers, your sisters, your
mother, your father, your uncles, your aunts, your nieces, your nephews, and
your cousins. People of color are not the problem! Don't blame us for being
insufficiently motivated to turn out and save America from itself.